Pen. Code, § 861 · Chapter 7. Examination of the Case, and Discharge of the Defendant, or Holding Him to Answer
Pen. Code, § 861
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) The preliminary examination shall be completed at one session or the complaint shall be dismissed, unless the magistrate, for good cause shown by affidavit, postpones it. The postponement shall not be for more than 10 court days, unless either of the following occur:
(1) The defendant personally waives his or her right to a continuous preliminary examination.
(2) The prosecution establishes good cause for a postponement beyond the 10-court-day period. If the magistrate postpones the preliminary examination beyond the 10-court-day period, and the defendant is in custody, the defendant shall be released pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 859b.
(b) The preliminary examination shall not be postponed beyond 60 days from the date the motion to postpone the examination is granted, unless by consent or on motion of the defendant.
(c) Nothing in this section shall preclude the magistrate from interrupting the preliminary examination to conduct brief court matters so long as a substantial majority of the court’s time is devoted to the preliminary examination.
(d) A request for a continuance of the preliminary examination that is made by the defendant or his or her attorney of record for the purpose of filing a motion pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 1538.5 shall be deemed a personal waiver of the defendant’s right to a continuous preliminary examination.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 1997, Ch. 279, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1998.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=861.
- Text hash
- sha256 fd49e105aa3e56f82231cc224a719b4c5065c9c4484833900d9b84051b06e384
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Cited by 5 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 861. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 861.5Printed as Section 861
- Pen. Code, § 871.5Printed as Section 859b, 861, 871, 1008, 1381, 1381.5, 1385, 1387, or 1389 of this code
- Pen. Code, § 1328dPrinted as Sections 861 and 1382
- Pen. Code, § 1387Printed as Section 859b, 861, 871, or 995
- Pen. Code, § 1462.25Printed as Section 859b, 860, 861, or 1382
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.